Sunday 23 June 2019 16:40, UK
Danny Tudhope has reflected on a stellar Royal Ascot and is hoping his good fortune continues to enable an all-out challenge in the race to be crowned champion jockey.
Tudhope currently sits joint-second in the table behind Oisin Murphy, but closed the gap thanks to four winners at the big meeting.
It started with a bang in the first race when Lord Glitters won the Queen Anne before a second-day double on the William Haggas-trained pair Addeybb in the Wolferton and Move Swiftly in the Duke of Cambridge.
Tudhope rode at Ripon on Thursday before returning for the final two days, and he was rewarded with Space Traveller's win in the Jersey Stakes.
"Last year's Lincoln hasn't worked out badly (when Addeybb beat Lord Glitters)," Tudhope told Racing TV.
"Obviously Lord Glitters has run some solid races since then in a lot of Group Ones.
"It's nice for him to get his head in front.
"Addeybb is obviously a very good horse when he gets his circumstances, and we were glad the rain came just in time. He was different class to those on the day."
Tudhope was far from done with at that point, though.
"It was a great performance from Move Swiftly - she'd been off for over 200 days, so it was a great training performance," he added.
"She's a lovely filly and will improve for that run, because I felt she just took a blow. It was a hell of a performance.
"The Jersey is always a strong race, so it was a bit of a shock because Space Traveller doesn't win very often. He's run some solid races this year and was unlucky in France the time before.
"He's a grand little horse - it was great to head his head in front on the day it mattered."
Tudhope, who registered the 1000th winner of his career recently, rides principally for David O'Meara but has benefited from a good link-up with Haggas and is also retained by owners Clipper Logistics, who own Space Traveller.
The addition of quality to the quantity of winners he has always ridden is not lost on the jockey, who finished a narrow second on Sir Michael Stoute's Dream Of Dreams in the Diamond Jubilee.
"I'm just taking it day by day," he said.
"I'm enjoying it - I'm not chasing it (the title) and I'm getting some good rides, better quality, which I'm enjoying.
"We'll get Goodwood out of the way and we'll know more at the end of July.
"If I'm still there we'll give it a go. As for now, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing."
